AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | We weren’t sure whether this version of Brooks Koepka would ever return.
Koepka battled repeated injury over the past two years, missing his previous two Masters cuts and fading from the major-championship spotlight he once owned not long ago. Some said Koepka essentially “sold his business” when he left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. Maybe he had accomplished everything he wanted to do in golf. Maybe the outrageous money was enough incentive to shut it down, taking better care of his body instead of worrying about competitive golf.
That speculation only grew when he spelled out his insecurities in the Netflix Full Swing series. The documentary shows Koepka’s house with a sullen, oddly empty trophy display. In the middle of that display was a spot for the Masters trophy, he said. His mood was somber as he compared himself to Scottie Scheffler. Once unstoppable – the alpha golfer of the post-Tiger generation – Koepka looked hopelessly broken.
“I go back to the last major I won,” Koepka said in the documentary. “Like, I’d pay back every dollar I ever made in this game just to have that feeling again for, like, another hour.”
"I led for three rounds, and just didn't do it on the last day. That's it. Plain and simple.”
Brooks Koepka
Koepka got more than an hour of that feeling during this week’s Masters. He shared the first-round lead after a 7-under 65 and had firm control of the tournament until early Sunday afternoon when Koepka’s sketchy ball-striking and sloppy short game let him down. He lost more than two strokes to the field around the greens on Sunday, falling to a 3-over 75 and a share of second place with fellow LIV golfer Phil Mickelson.
In one sense, Koepka’s performance was surprising. Save for a victory two weeks ago at LIV Golf Orlando, Koepka had not been playing well. Data Golf, which ranks all golfers regardless of tour, had him as the No. 106 player in the world.
The four-time major champion of 2017-2019 – the one who patiently bullied his way through fields and said that majors were among the easiest tournaments for him to win – seemed like a golf ball shell of his former self. Physically and mentally, we all collectively wondered if his window had closed.
In another sense, this week made sense. Koepka’s poor play could be excused by hip and knee injuries and perhaps even a lack of urgency in non-major events. A healthy Koepka, only 32 years old, was still the guy who marvelously hung tough at Shinnecock to clip Tommy Fleetwood or the one who stomped on Tiger’s comeback at Bellerive.
By Sunday evening, Koepka had lost the tournament but won back a once-fractured confidence. He was asked whether he thought that he could win more majors. Koepka stared daggers at the reporter with an air of disbelief, as he often does.
“Yeah, I think I proved it this week, no?” Koepka said, his tone begging for an answer. “I mean, I've known this for a while, but I guess it was just a matter of going out and doing it. I led for three rounds, and just didn't do it on the last day. That's it. Plain and simple.”
Koepka, you won’t be surprised to learn, doesn’t believe in moral victories.
He had a real shot at major No. 5, which is reaching a rarified air in golf history. Since World War II, only these men have reached that plateau: Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson, Peter Thomson and Seve Ballesteros.
And almost Brooks Koepka.
He isn’t over it yet, but he could be soon.
“Eventually it will be a positive,” Koepka said about the Masters heartbreak. “I'd say probably give it a week, and I'll start to see some positives out of it and carry this over to the PGA, the U.S. Open and the Open.
“But right now, it's kind of tough to see, if I'm honest, probably for the next few hours and the next few days.”
But he felt those major feelings once again.
And now Koepka is a major storyline until proven otherwise.
Sean Fairholm